A US teenager who walked barefoot through the Philippines jungle for two days to escape his al Qaeda-linked kidnappers has been reunited with his mother.

Kevin Lunsmann, 14, and his Filipino-American mother, Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann, 50, were together for the first time since she was released two months ago by Abu Sayyaf militants who seized the pair along with a cousin, Romnick Jakaria, 19, in July.

The US embassy in Manila said the boy had a reunion with his mother, who had flown home to Virginia after her release, but gave few details of what must have been an emotional charged moment.

But Heiko Lunsmann, Kevin's German-American father, revealed that the boy had plotted his escape for some time showing immense character after his mother had been set free, dropped off at a wharf on Basilan Island.

"I'm so proud of my son, he's a hero," said Mr Lunsmann.

"He wandered two days through the jungle. [His captivity] was a tough time; it was a tough five months. I only know he is a hero and I'm so proud he escaped."